Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, Frank Mir, has followed the path of several other prominent mixed martial arts (MMA) superstars, like Ronda Rousey and Tom Lawlor, into the world of professional wrestling.
And this being WrestleMania weekend in the Tri-State Area, Sunday’s big shebang from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is bringing out the best of the regional promotions, including Major League Wrestling (MLW), Capitol Wrestling, and Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport.
Mir performed during the latter, scoring a submission win over Dan “The Beast” Severn, yet another former UFC champion, and used his post-fight interview to call for a third (and hopefully final) showdown against longtime nemesis, Brock Lesnar.
Apparently it will be a fight to the death.
“Yes, I’m getting into this so I can face Brock,” Mir told the supportive crowd last night (Thurs., April 4, 2019) in Jersey City, New Jersey. “I couldn’t make him the first Octagon-related death, but maybe I can make him the first one in the ring.”
Sadly, there have been actual deaths inside the wrestling ring.
Mir, 39, found himself in hot water back in 2010 when he told the combat sports media that Lesnar would become the first cage fighter to die from Octagon-related injuries, including a broken neck (more on that here).
Lesnar, 41, made his UFC debut in early 2008, falling to Mir by way of submission. He would later avenge that loss in a lopsided beating at UFC 100 the following year. They came close to running it back several times over the last decade but alas, it never came to be.
Perhaps now that both fighters are competing in the land of make believe, fans will finally get the trilogy they don’t want and never asked for?
Then again, maybe not.